NOURISH!

The 2020 Design Symposium NOURISH took place virtually on September 11 and 12. 175 attendees heard presentations on themes of well-being, of our bodies and minds but also of the land and of our society. Falon Mihalic of Falon Land Studio in Houston, TX opened the Symposium with a talk on how designers can nourish the creative process. She was followed by Sharon Selvaggio of The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, who discussed the benefits of designing pollinator habitat into urban spaces, as well as related planning and design considerations. Chuck Eggert of Oregon’s Wild Rose Foods had the audience in thrall to his holistic approach to closed loop farm design and management and vertical integration with food retailers. Our Keynote Speaker, April Phillips, linked systems thinking to climate positive design strategies to foodshed planning. And Professor Roxi Thoren of the University of Oregon moderated a panel discussion among all the speakers, bringing the threads together to focus on how landscape architects nourish and, importantly, who we are nourishing with our work. The presentations sparked lively discussions among our speakers and attendees on subjects ranging from strategies to protect creative time while running a business, to effective specifying of biochar, to how landscape architects can daylight the labor force that brings our designs to life and food to our table. ASLA Oregon is grateful to our fabulous speakers; to our wonderful sponsors and volunteers, without whom we could not produce these events; and to you, our lively and engaged community, for making NOURISH a success!